The ULTRA-TRAIL Mt. FUJI Race Committee (Izu City, Shizuoka, Japan, Race Committee Overall Director: Tsuyoshi Kaburaki) is announcing this week that an official supplier contract has been concluded with Strava, Inc. (San Francisco, California, U.S.A., CEO: James Quarles). This contract realizes a new three-way collaboration between THE NORTH FACE, a brand of Goldwin, which is the special sponsor of the UTMF, Strava, and the UTMF.

UTMF has release a press notification where informs about a new contract which will make collaborate THE NORTH FACE, a brand of Goldwin, which is the special sponsor of the UTMF, (2) Strava, and (3) the UTMF.

We will have a virtual STY included in the events of UTMF 2019. A running challenge event by Strava that will recreate the STY (a race from Shizuoka to Yamanashi) that was conducted up to 2018. On the details we will have a “Challenge website” which will be released on Friday, March 29th, the period of the event will be from Thursday, April 11th to Thursday, April 25th, and all runners who have a Strave account will be able to participate.

Runners will log in the the Strava challenge and they will need to run a total of at least 92 kilometers during the challenge period, for all of those that complete the challenge, they will receive a special digital trophy with the event’s original design in their Strava profile page trophy case. Participants will be free to select where and when they run. They will be able to participate by running multiple times or just once during the challenge period. As an example, to complete the event, the could run 7 km every day during the two-week period, or instead run the whole 92 km in one day. Runners who complete the challenge will also receive a weblink for a chance to win THE NORTH FACE goods by lottery (ONLY runners who live in Japan are eligible to enter this lottery). The prize will be (Prizes will be subject to change depending on stock availability):

Shoes: NF01901 one pair of men’s or women’s Ampezzo shoes

Apparel: NP11972 one HYPERAIR GTX HOODIE (unisex)

Sack: NM61915 TR6 one sack (unisex)

The Japanese THE NORTH FACE athletes will also participate in this challenge so this will allow the runners to compete against them. As a collaboration event with Goldwin, THE NORTH FACE athletes from both Japan and the rest of the world will participate in this race.
Tomonori Onitsuka, Kimino Miyazaki, Hiroaki Matsunaga, Koji Morimoto, Coree Aussem-Woltering, Dylan Bowman, Fernanda Machiel,Hillary Allen, Mike Foote, Rob Krar, Stephanie Violett will participate on the challenge depending on their schedules or conditions. After these events an official Strava club of The North Face Ultra Running Club will be launched. The Strava club is going to give lectures and lessons at The North Face Flight Tokyo Running Shop, and organize group run events.

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Mr. Nobuhiko Fukuda, Goldwin THE NORTH FACE Promotion Group Manager said “We hope everyone involved with the UTMF – the top and the largest trail running event in Japan – and the Strava community – with its members all over the world – will learn about THE NORTH FACE through these two challenges, and enjoy their own running lifestyles”.
Ms. Eri Mishima, Strava Japan Country Manager Interaction with other athletes leads to the exchange of beneficial information and the improvement of motivation for many Strava athletes who are preparing for races. “We are going to generate additional excitement for the UTMF 2019 through the Virtual STY and the UTMF 2019 – Last One Mile events with runners participating in the races, and members of the Strava communities around the world supporting runners who are aiming to finish in the UTMF race. We hope many runners in the UTMF 2019 will receive the Last One Mile digital trophy and share their 100-mile journey experiences with their friends”.
Tatsuo Chiba, the UTMF Race Office Director said “We hope that many people including this year’s UTMF participants, those who are planning to participate in the race in the future, those who have yet to start trail running, and volunteers will strengthen their connections through these new Strava events”.